Administrators and Character Education: The Leader in Me

Educators are confronted with antisocial, disruptive, and internalizing student behaviors which interfere with the flow of the learning environment and can potentially impede the learning of all students. These types of behaviors have been a concern for many years and are raising awareness among, faculty, staff, and parents that both teaching and learning are being affected due to these challenging behaviors. Therefore, administrators are faced with the challenging task of trying to find the right program or practice for addressing these behaviors. Research has shown that PBIS, ongoing professional development in classroom management, and character education programs are all effective preventative measures administrators have taken in order to address these behavioral issues and concerns. More recently, administrators have chosen to adopt The Leader in Me character program as a way to improve their school culture and climate and address student behavior issues. This case study explores teacher perceptions on The Leader in Me character program and its impact on student behavior issues at one elementary school site in an attempt to address the following question: Is The Leader in Me an effective character education program for administration to consider when looking to implement a program in order to address student behavior? A mixed-methods approach was utilized through the collection of suspension data over a four-year period and the completion of a seven-question survey by second through fifth grade teachers about their perceptions on The Leader in Me and its influence on student behavior since implementation in 2015. Quantitative suspension data revealed that The Leader in Me has not had a positive impact on student discipline issues at the studied elementary school site. Quantitative and qualitative data collected from the survey revealed a mixed review of teacher perceptions of The Leader in Me and its impact on student behavior issues since implementation. Teachers perceived The Leader in Me as having successful tools and systems to improve the overall climate and culture of a school, but it does not have the effective tools for addressing and correcting student behavior issues. A recommendation is to implement The Leader in Me in correlation with another preventative measure such as PBIS, in order to build a strong foundation and improve the climate and culture of a school, while also having the proper tools and systems in place to address student behavior issues. The information gathered in this study will add to existing research on The Leader in Me and provide administrators with teacher perceptions of The Leader in Me and its effectiveness when addressing student behavior and discipline problems. Results from this study will be informative to administrators considering a program or practice for improving student behavior and discipline issues.